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Photo Credit: Photo credit: Daniel Llorente

Only By God's Grace - Sarah Lee

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I like sports a lot. Originally I was on the track and field team, and then in 2002 my teacher asked if I would join the “Searching for New Sport Stars” plan. When I went there, there were many sports for us to choose from, but in the end, the sport chose us. 

Maybe the cycling coaches thought that according to the basic requirements, I may have some potential. I was chosen for training, which I participated in for two years. While doing short distance, I realized cycling brought a great feeling of speed and excitement. So I chose cycling and gave up track and field. 

Before I believed in God, I thought it was luck every time I won a race, because I have anemia, my body is weak and I feel dizzy when I do any sport that requires a lot of strength. I felt really lucky I was able to win any prizes. My teammates also used to say how lucky I was. But then one day I crashed my bike and broke my hand. I thought I had recovered after the first surgery, so a few months after, I had the cast removed. When I went to the hospital to have the cast taken off, they did an x-ray to check on my hand. The doctor said that his estimations were wrong and my hand was not fully recovered. 

At the time, that was a real setback for me; I felt my whole body collapse. I was young at the time — 18 years old — and this was my first time needing a surgery. I thought I would recover quickly but I didn’t. 

Before my second surgery, a staff member from Hong Kong Sports Institute brought me to church. At that time, I started my church life and everyone there prayed for me. I had not started to believe in Christ yet, and when the second surgery also failed to heal me, I was very upset. My church friends prayed for me and I continued to go to church. But I started to think I didn’t have the ability to heal on my own. I began to understand that many things in life are out of our control and I could not rely on luck for everything. I started to realize that my life is planned and that is how I came into the situation where my hand was not recovering from either of the two surgeries. 

After my third surgery, my hand still did not fully recover. I could not move my wrist, but I could go back and participate in competitions. This is only by God’s grace. Because I am now considered disabled (mildly disabled), my doctor suggested I don’t ride my bicycle again and my coach suggested I retire. But the power God has given me is enough to make me confident in my sport. 

When I came back to training after one year in recovery, I won two medals in my first competition. This was only achieved by God’s grace. 

—Sarah Lee, Hong Kong cyclist

Photo Credit: Photo credit: Daniel Llorente

Only By God's Grace - Sarah Lee

Aug 08, 2019

I like sports a lot. Originally I was on the track and field team, and then in 2002 my teacher asked if I would join the “Searching for New Sport Stars” plan. When I went there, there were many sports for us to choose from, but in the end, the sport chose us.  Maybe the cycling coaches thought that according to the basic requirements, I may have some potential. I was chosen for training, which I participated in for two years. While doing short distance, I realized cycling brought a great feeling of speed and excitement. So I chose cycling and gave up track and field.  Before I believed in God, I thought it was luck every time I won a race, because I have anemia, my body is weak and I feel dizzy when I do any sport that requires a lot of strength. I felt really lucky I was able to win any prizes. My teammates also used to say how lucky I was. But then one day I crashed my bike and broke my hand. I thought I had recovered after the first surgery, so a few months after, I had the cast removed. When I went to the hospital to have the cast taken off, they did an x-ray to check on my hand. The doctor said that his estimations were wrong and my hand was not fully recovered.  At the time, that was a real setback for me; I felt my whole body collapse. I was young at the time — 18 years old — and this was my first time needing a surgery. I thought I would recover quickly but I didn’t.  Before my second surgery, a staff member from Hong Kong Sports Institute brought me to church. At that time, I started my church life and everyone there prayed for me. I had not started to believe in Christ yet, and when the second surgery also failed to heal me, I was very upset. My church friends prayed for me and I continued to go to church. But I started to think I didn’t have the ability to heal on my own. I began to understand that many things in life are out of our control and I could not rely on luck for everything. I started to realize that my life is planned and that is how I came into the situation where my hand was not recovering from either of the two surgeries.  After my third surgery, my hand still did not fully recover. I could not move my wrist, but I could go back and participate in competitions. This is only by God’s grace. Because I am now considered disabled (mildly disabled), my doctor suggested I don’t ride my bicycle again and my coach suggested I retire. But the power God has given me is enough to make me confident in my sport.  When I came back to training after one year in recovery, I won two medals in my first competition. This was only achieved by God’s grace.  —Sarah Lee, Hong Kong cyclist